Three men named in Chi Alpha lawsuit arrested for indecency with a child (2024)

Three men named in a lawsuit against Chi Alpha Ministries in College Station were arrested Thursday by the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office for alleged indecency with a child, according to Brazos County Jail records.

Ryan Hoffart, 25, Otto “Bo” Randolph, 30, and William Johnson, 23, have each been charged with indecency with a child, exposure, according to jail records. Hoffart also has been charged with indecency with a child, sexual contact.

On Feb. 25, the father of one of the alleged victims filed a lawsuit against Chi Alpha Campus Ministries and Mountain Valley Fellowship in College Station for $1 million claiming that multiple instances of assault took place from October 2021 to November 2022.

Chi Alpha is a fraternal ministry organization with over 300 locations on university campuses around the world, including one at Texas A&M University, according to the organization’s website. Mountain Valley Fellowship (MVF) is a church within the North Texas District of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. The North Texas District Council Assemblies of God is under the supervision of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. All four organizations are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Hoffart, Johnson and Randolph are named as Chi Alpha youth leaders and are accused of sexually assaulting the victim. Otto Randolph is referred to as Bo Randolph in the lawsuit and the plaintiff’s legal team told The Eagle that they are the same person.

Hoffart is also accused in the lawsuit of having taken the victim to registered sex offender Daniel Savala’s home in Houston.

Hoffart, Randolph and Johnson allegedly exposed their genitalia to the victim during regular church meetings, according to probable cause report from the Bryan Police Department obtained by The Eagle.

Additionally, Hoffart allegedly touched the victim inappropriately, according to the same police reports. Officers said Hoffart also allegedly met with the victim privately in spring of 2023 to pressure him not to tell anyone about what had happened.

Police also said that a member of the North Texas District of the Assemblies of God confirmed that Hoffart had admitted to exposing himself in front of the victim.

In June 2023, Savala was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and charged with a first-degree felony count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. The charge was upgraded to continuous trafficking of a person in September 2023.

Savala is also facing charges of indecency with a child, exposure; indecency with a child, sexual contact; and sexual assault of a child, according to Harris County records. He is being held in the McLennan County Jail.

On March 13, a second lawsuit against Chi Alpha Ministries was filed in Harris County against the Huntsville chapter. The lawsuit was filed by an anonymous John Doe and accuses the ministry of allowing similar instances of sexual assault. Hoffart, Johnson and Randolph are not named in that lawsuit, but Savala is.

Indecency with a child, sexual contact is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. Indecency with a child, exposure is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Hoffart is being held under a $100,000 bond; Randolph and Johnson are both being held under a $25,000 bond, according to jail records.

Johnson was previously a news reporter for KAGS-TV in Bryan.